Fluke 233 Meter Review - Important Follow-up

I have experienced the same problems with my unit (as Mike & Patrick have noted above) ... I have used my unit very 'lightly' ... total "ON" time is probably < 20-hours.  I always turn if off when I am not using it to conserve on batteries ... well, so I THOUGHT. 

The batteries are being slowly depleated even without use ... seems like a design flaw (or oversight).  I wonder if there is a way to fix this with a firmware update that would power down the unit completely?

Gregory

Regarding the 233 ... At the time, I had just accepted the poor battery life ... then got frustrated and started to research the internet for a solution.  Sure enough ... Fluke will update the firmware at no charge (and provide calibration).  You are responsible for the shipping charges to send the item to them, however.

It is better to call them:  888.993.5853 ... I experienced problems with their website.

The "music on hold" is very distorted (if you call them and are put on hold) .. I brought this to their attention and they just kind of laughed it off ("yeah, I've heard that before").  You would think that a company that is associated with precision measurement equipment would have a more professional telephone system.

I will update this post when I receive the meter back from Fluke.

Gregory

Regarding the 233 ... At the time, I had just accepted the poor battery life ... then got frustrated and started to research the internet for a solution.  Sure enough ... Fluke will update the firmware at no charge (and provide calibration).  You are responsible for the shipping charges to send the item to them, however.

It is better to call them:  888.993.5853 ... I experienced problems with their website.

The "music on hold" is very distorted (if you call them and are put on hold) .. I brought this to their attention and they just kind of laughed it off ("yeah, I've heard that before").  You would think that a company that is associated with precision measurement equipment would have a more professional telephone system.

I will update this post when I receive the meter back from Fluke.

Gregory

Well, I must say Fluke is trying hard. The concept of Fluke 233 is very good and I hope they keep this product alive for a long time like the 87V. I hope they don't think the CNX series can replace this.

Yes, there is a firmware update to improve the battery life. However, I think (I am not able to get confirmation from Fluke), there is also a hardware change for those serial nos >22500000. There is also a slight change in the way you wake up the display when it goes to sleep if it is not docked.

The supplementary manual can be found here:

http://assets.fluke.com/manuals/233_____umeng0009.pdf

"Change #4

On page 13, replace the Battery Saver section with the following:

Battery Saver(Sleep Mode) Units with S/N <224999999

The Meter powers-down (Sleep mode) if there is no function change, range change, or button push for

20 minutes. The lowest power drain occurs when the display module is docked with the Meter base. When

the display is docked and the Meter is in sleep mode or off, a power drain continues from intermittent

communication between the radios.

To wake up the Meter, push a button or turn the function switch.

To disable the Sleep mode, hold down the g button while turning the Meter on. The Sleep mode is always

disabled in the MIN MAX AVG mode.

To optimize battery life, it is recommended one battery be removed from the meter base and display for

extended periods of storage or intermittent use.

Battery Saver(Sleep Mode) Units with S/N >225000000

The Meter powers-down (Sleep mode) if there is no function change, range change, or button push for

20 minutes.

To wake up the Meter, Remate the display or turn the function switch.

To disable the Sleep mode, hold down the g button while turning the Meter on. The Sleep mode is always

disabled in the MIN MAX AVG mode"

Now although I say Fluke tries hard, I think their customer surveys are not up to standard. Either that or they are not telling the customers the entire story such that they get what the customers wanted but at the expense of something greater; just like the case of Fluke 233 and some other product which I prefer not to bring it up.

Regardless, I hope you have some good results to share with us. Thanks.

Regarding Fluke's customer service, I think you're spot on.

They always offer to look into the issues, or take the product in for a check.

Unfortunately the result usually brings little to nothing, and leaves the customers as they were.

I posted earlier in this thread about battery issues with the Fluke 12x series scopemeters.

Same story.

After that I decided to sort the issue myself, and reported back to Fluke how to solve it.

That's like half a year ago by now, but nothing has changed. They keep shipping a product they know is flawed, even though the fix is rather simple and surely easily implemetable.

In this case the fix was to change the type of rechargeable batteries.

Thanks for the heads-up on this.

I have tried twice to contact Fluke's customer support concerning this issue. On neither occasion have I received a reply. I don't really fancy spending money on-hold on the phone or sending it off only for there to be 'no fault found', so I think I will just leave it in it's box on the shelf where it is now, and bring it out when I need a spare meter. The real fix would be to increase the current limiting resistor on the IR transmitter. It only has to work over a distance of 1cm or so when the unit is docked. Beyond that, it is classed as undocked and it switches to the RF link anyway.

I get the feeling that this is a result of parent company Danaher's cost-cutting in action.

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that some of you have had problems with Fluke.  I for one think they are not only the best when it comes to test equipment.   The problem with the meter is not hardware.   It is firmware, the problem is fixed when they reprogram the meter to turn off.   That happens whit firmware revision 2.0   If you want to check your meter to see what revision you have, it's easy.

"Hold down the "hold", turn meter to vdc. After a few seconds the display comes up with V1.00, V1.01 or V2.00. V2.00 has the battery fix."

Let me know if I can be of help.

Kind Regards,

Perry

Sent from my iPad

Hi Perry,

Thanks for sharing the information on how to check firmware version.

As for the problem definition, I do not know exactly what Fluke did but as you can see from the supplementary manual which I posted Sep 19 above, it appears that there is a difference in how you wake up the meter when it is undocked.

For brand new units, S/N >22500000, you will not be able to wake the meter by just turning the function switch or pushing a button.

For units with S/N <24999999, you can wake the unit by turning the function switch or push a button.

I was not able to get any confirmation whether with the upgraded firmware for S/N <24999999, does the waking up behavior changed or does it remain the same as before; i.e. you can wake it up just by turning the function switch or pressing a button. Please note I am only referring to the case whereby the display is undocked.

Now, if indeed there is a difference between S/N<2499999 and S/N>2500000 in the way the display wakes up when undocked, then I would be inclined to say there is indeed a hardware difference. I'm not saying it is a problem but I think there is a change in the hardware design.

eplanz

Thank you for your response.   The check I mentioned should be performed with the display docked to the meter body.  Let me know if you have other questions or concerns.

Perry

Sent from my iPad